Winter 2018 Fanon Con/Character Creation
'Traveler Blue '''is a human drifter who wanders across the universe, leaving written records and bluebells in his wake. In addition, he is Sol's second Fanon-Con character creation contestant, based around the theme of 'blue'. History Background Based on investigations, using information presumed to be left by himself, Traveler Blue was born on a human colony ship passing by Uranus. The ship was headed for a wormhole intended to take it to the seemingly hospitable planet of Arcadia. The colonization ship eventually arrived on Arcadia, fully expecting the planet to be uninhabited by sentient life. However, researches had made a mistake, having detected no sentient animal life, and not checking the flora. Intelligent, self-aware flora had evolved on the planet, known as the Hamadryads or, to some of the more simpleminded colonists, simply 'Bluebells', based on the color of their flowers. The settlement on Arcadia quickly established mining operations, chiefly to find cobalt and nickel (for which the colony had been established). However, the ground of Arcadia was thick and densely packed with roots, meaning that colonists had to saw through the roots in order to reach the ores and generate a profit to make the colony sustainable. When they began to cut through the roots, plants across Arcadia began to die, and with that, the native Hamadryads became sick and some even died themselves. As this continued, the Hamadryads slowly pieced their thoughts and hypotheses together, finally realizing that there was a link between the strange human presence, mining operations, and the deaths of the plants. Most Hamadryads were hesitant to fight. Later investigations done by Traveler Blue seem to indicate that this is because of their religion. Blue's research shows that the Hamadryads, and perhaps all life on Arcadia, were not originally native to the planet. The planet always had incredibly fertile soil, but it took an event dubbed the 'Genesis Garden' to kickstart the plant's ecosystem. The leading theory related to the 'Genesis Garden' is that Hamadryads and plant-life on Arcadia only resulted from a group of earlier settlers planting the seeds, making friends with the species they had unknowingly created, and once they realized that they had created sentient life, they left the planet and the Hamadryads behind. This naturally led to the Hamadryads seeing the humans as returned creators rather than the alien invaders that they were. One Hamadryad took the name Ghillie Dhu. He began a swift campaign of war against his own people to rile them up and unite them, before finally deciding to begin a campaign against the colonists. Early Years Ghillie Dhu's attacks hit the colony, but were unable to crack its defenses. Eventually, Ghillie Dhu managed to seize a weapons shipment before it could land in the colony, and began to reverse engineer the weapons. The Hamadryads now faced Traveler Blue, whatever his real name may be, had just come of age and thus was inducted into the military. As the first few battles occurred, it became apparent that without proper leadership on behalf of the humans, Ghillie Dhu and his Hamadryads would crack the walls. One man took it upon himself, and organized a group of like-minded soldiers to lead an expedition deep into Hamadryad camps. He did not stop after slaughtering Ghillie Dhu. He and his soldiers lit several fires, intending to smoke the Hamadryads out and kill the remaining soldiers. There is no confirmed, definite link between this mysterious hero and Traveler Blue, but it is all too likely that they are one and the same, given what happened in the life of Traveler Blue next. Upon his return to the capital, the soldier and his comrades were celebrated as war heros. However, the militia did not see him as the same, having seen his actions as defying orders. A court-martial was prepared, but the soldier fled into space before he could be indicted. At the same time, so did Traveler Blue. Slate-Gray Soldier Here is where Traveler Blue's story begins, for sure. Traveling from planet to planet, he began to earn a reputation for himself as the Slate-Gray Soldier. He was known for his quick, effective, and devastating practice of total war. Records of the battles he fought in and how many he killed were all seemingly lost and/or destroyed, possibly by himself at a later date. He spent nearly three, perhaps even four, decades working as a mercenary. At some point, the Slate-Gray Soldier was accosted and nearly killed by a would-be assassin. Based on what the Soldier recorded in his diary, this assassin was a young girl whose parents had been killed by him in one of his many military campaigns. Not wanting to kill her, he broke her arm, choked her out, and took her to a medical satellite. Not wanting to live the life of the Soldier anymore, he returned home to Arcadia. Exiled Upon returning to Arcadia, the Slate Gray Soldier discovered that the colony was now under the rule of a historical-revisionism-minded party. Instead of championing the massacre of the Hamadryads, they now saw it as a grave war crime and blamed the particular soldier. The remaining military had been "purged", as they were now just as useless as they had been before mining operations commenced. The Soldier did not stay in the colony long before being discovered. He quickly headed off into the wilderness, expecting it to be void of sentient life. However, he found that he was wrong. A number of aging Bluebells still lived off in camps on their own. ''They have no knowledge of who committed the massacre, Traveler Blue wrote in his diary. It seem as if only the men on the field were burned alive, and the fire killed every single one of them that it touched. The people who remain here have no clue. Feeling sorrow for the remaining female Hamadryads, the Soldier wanted to help. He would bring them anything that they would requested and even things that they did not. He attempted to bring them medicine as they lay sick and dying, but it seemed as if that only accelerated their deaths. In his diary, he claims, that at the end of the life of the last Bluebell in that camp, she indoctrinated him just as a mother would have done to a son who had come of age. It is unknown what emotion came upon his mind after that. It seems as if, based off of evidence found at the site of the Arcadian colony, he returned home and slaughtered every last colonist he could find. It seemed to be his last war crime committed. From there, it seems as if a physical change occurred in his body. Given the presence of activity in the mining chasm, he may have ventured to the core and heart of the planet. Traveler Blue After that fateful visit to Arcadia, Traveler Blue has wandered across the galaxy, leaving blue diaries and bluebells in his wake. It seems as if he has given up the lifestyle of the drifting mercenary in lieu of a life as a traveling scribe. At some point, he came across the Universal Library of Lore, which he began to frequent and stop to log his records when he could. Nowadays, Traveler Blue continues his eternal quest to document the life across the universe. Personality Traveler Blue normally attempts to stay away from situations where one-on-one conversation is likely, but it does inevitably happen. He is described as a man of few words. Traveler Blue usually avoids conversation with people unless they contact him first. He does not hunt nor eat (see below, in Abilities) unless given food or drink as a gift. If asked to stay the night, he will, and will record information about his visit and the corresponding environment. He may leave journals from his previous journeys as a gift. Traveler Blue is presumed to be nonviolent and pacifist following his indoctrination into Hamadryad culture. His emotion often appears rather melancholic and possibly even depressed at times. It is uncommon for him to smile and much rarer for him to laugh, though it is possibly. After all, he is only human. Appearance His eyes are a steely, cold grey, with flecks of blue sprinkled throughout them like ice on a cliff's face. His hair has gone grey, likely from age or stress, but his face still appears young. He often keeps his hair cut short, likely a holdover from his time in the military, but leaves his beard a bit long (but still well kept). His outfit varies depending on climate, though he rarely wears anything new. Instead, his fashion is fashioned out of old clothes he has recently scavenged and the articles already on his back. His outfit normally consists of a blue flannel, a grey military-style jacket, worn grey combat boots, hand wraps, and faded blue jeans. In temperate climates, he may fashion flower crowns for himself. Underneath any of his outfits appears to be another layer composed of leaves, moss, and vines. It is unknown if he has generated it himself (see Abilities below) or merely gathered them, but it is clear that they are intended to keep him warm and offer light protection. It is presumed that his underwear are also blue, though no attempts have been made to verify this fact. The journals he keeps are usually blue in color, and range from the color cyan to indigo. He does keep several tools on him, notably a straight razor for self-defense, a hatchet, a flashlight, and a dagger, among other things. All of these tools are blue in color, and are fashioned out of blue-tinted metal when possible. It is unknown how he manages to accumulate so many blue tools. Abilities Traveler Blue does not seem to have any inhuman powers, aside from increased longevity, the ability to sustain himself entirely off of energy from the sun's rays, and an ability to inspire plant growth. Other than that, he appears to be entirely human. In addition, he has a fast hand to write with, good memorization, and is apt at describing things. Perhaps, if things had gone better, he could be a detective or a courtroom typist. It is presumed that he has some skill with hand-to-hand combat and strategy, as well as having an apt for roughing it out in the wilderness. Notes *Traveler Blue is likely the one responsible for most of the information regarding certain universal personalities like Lady Lethe. *Traveler Blue likely took his name after the band, Blues Traveler. Interstellar radio signals have their ways.